


Skin Deep

by LadyLokiValentine



Category: British Actor RPF
Genre: Eventual Romance, F/M, Filming, Post-Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-07
Updated: 2019-01-07
Packaged: 2019-10-06 06:52:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17340644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyLokiValentine/pseuds/LadyLokiValentine
Summary: The main OC character, Luca, wins a trip with a friend to the filming of Thor: Ragnarok to spend a week with the cast and watch the film get shot and developed, and a romance blooms between her and Tom Hiddleston.  Obviously, the story takes place a couple years ago, and for the sake of the story, its being told when Tom Hiddleston and Taylor Swift were still dating. (Although Taylor isn't a huge part of the story, just a plot device).





	1. Arrival

“C’mon!” I tugged on Lindsey’s arm, pulling her forward into the bright Australian light. First vacation for my friend and I, ever, and we pulled out all the stops.

            Not necessarily the “we” that pulled out all the stops, more like the contest I won/earned off of the internet. Free trip to Australia, to spend a week on the set of Thor: Ragnarok, and to spend time with the cast, plus go to a costume party at the end of the week, considering it was both the last days of their shooting and Halloween.

            Lindsey giggled, “You know that he’s going to be there, I don’t know why you’re acting like he won’t.” She tugged her suitcase to a stop, then put up a hand to shade her eyes and looked around. “Still, I wonder if our driver is going to be here.”

            I bit my lip, wondering the same thing. In movies and shows, usually the driver, or whoever picked a character up, stood inside with a cheesy sign. “I’m sure he…or she… will be.”

            All of a sudden, a rush of people with cameras ran past us into the airport, many shouting and pushing their way through the double doors, one of them running me over in the process and knocking me down behind my suit case.

            “Ouch.” I muttered a few curse words, checking my hands for scrapes.

            “Sorry about that,” a rather smooth male voice said, “They always love to get a picture of her coming off the tarmac.” I grabbed the hand that was offered and pulled myself up, too preoccupied with picking up my purse and dropped items to fully comprehend who had offered me his hand.

            “Yeah, well….” I muttered again, while Lindsey started frantically tapping my arm. “Damn, Lindsey. Calm down.” I ran my hand through the hair, still turned around to look back at the airport doors.

            “Luca, Dammit!” Lindsey hissed at me, “Say thank you.”

            I snorted, “Who are they taking pictures of anyway?” I asked, turning back around to see who had helped me up.

            “Probably Taylor.” Tom Hiddleston stood before me, also looking towards the door with a tired look on his face, hands tucked in his blue jeans, and his black tee accenting his pale skin and re-dyed black hair perfectly.

            I couldn’t stop staring. I’m not sure he noticed though, because his eyes were trained on the airport doors, his eyebrows furrowing as the seconds ticked by, his lips drawing into a tighter line.

            Which was good, because that meant that he didn’t realize that I wasn’t blinking, or breathing. He didn’t hear my heart pounding at a good thousand miles per hour.

            Lindsey, thank god, was the one to break the silence. “Well, hello! I’m Lindsey and this is Luca. We’re the two that are visiting your set this week, from the comic con contest.” She offered her hand, which was enough to pull Tom out of his trance, but only half of mine.

            _Don’t say anything weird, please don’t say anything weird._

            Tom flashed a spectacular smile, and shook Lindsey’s hand. “Nice to meet you, I’m Tom Hiddleston, although you probably know that, since, you are then the person who created that spectacular Loki cosplay. I was actually quite impressed.” His eyes flashed to mine and then offered me his hand, still smiling. “And rather, still am impressed.”

            I finally let go of the breath I was holding, and exhaled with a small chuckle, feeling my cheeks heat up, “Sorry. I’m just a bit star struck. I love practically everything you’ve done, especially the Shakespeare, with King Henry.” I looked down at his still extended hand, timidly clapping my own together in a soft motion, which is what I do when I’m anxious.

            My mother used to think it made me look like a child, and I could see why now.

            Thankfully, Tom laughed, and reached forward and clasped my right hand with both of his, “It is a pleasure to meet you.”

            I giggled, “Oh, no, trust me, the pleasure is all mine.” I exhaled sharply, “Can I say like, _one_ crazy-obsessed-fan sounding thing? So, I don’t have to hold it in all trip?”

            He smiled at me, “Sure.”

            I opened my mouth to respond, but as soon as began, a loud commotion was coming from the airport entrance. “Oh, good.” He grumbled, slightly under his breath, but then broke into another brilliant smile and sauntered hotly across the pavement to join in the swarm of paparazzi.

            I looked over to Lindsey, “What do we do now? Was he supposed to pick us up?”

            She just shrugged, and started to look around again, “I have no idea.” She then turned and smirked at me, “You handled that so well.”

            “Hey, you know what, I tried my best.” I looked back to the slow moving crowd, and caught a glimpse of him in between heads, “It’s not every day that someone meets their hero.”

            “You mean their villain.”

            “Oh, shut up.” I swung my purse, hitting her in the arm.

            “What were you going to tell him, anyway?”

            “Honestly, I don’t know. I’m happy he walked away or I probably would have said ‘I would dig through glass to find your tears’ or something stalkerish like that.”

            Lindsey laughed and shook her head, “That honestly would not have surprised me in the slightest.”

“The fact that I would collect his tears?”

She giggled, “No, the fact that you would crack that much under the pressure.”

“Hey, now. We’re lucky I didn’t start crying right then and there.”

“True.” There was a small moment of silence, “Wait. Isn’t Tom dating Taylor Swift?”

            I rolled my eyes. “Yeah. Why?”

            Lindsey’s eyes widened, “We’re going to meet Taylor Swift!”

            I squinted at her, then turned around again to look at the mass of people slowly moving towards us. “ _Of course_ we’re going to meet Taylor Swift,” I said, begrudgingly, “That explains so much.”

            Soon enough, the mass hoard was smushing right past us, and I could see Tom whisper in Taylor’s ear, and then walk over to us through the crowd, a few cameras following his moves.

            “You’re coming with us to the set, I was supposed to originally call you guys another car but I don’t see them getting through this mess after they saw you talking to me earlier.” He spoke smoothly, despite the number of clicks and flashes that was happening behind him. “Unless you wish to be endlessly questioned by the paparazzi.”

            My cheeks instantly flamed up again as I nodded, “Nope, I think I’m good I had enough interviews to get here.” I then grabbed my handle of my bag and started to follow the throng towards the roads.

            Once safely inside the limo ( _yikes)_ , Lindsey and I were pressed against one side and Tom and Taylor against the other. I was chewing on my lip while Taylor absentmindedly scrolled through her phone, “So, much for playing it cool.” She said, glancing at us two.

            “Oh, Taylor…” Tom muttered.

            I spared a quick glance at Lindsey, who squinted back at me as to say ‘ _what’s that supposed to mean?’_

            “So, um,” Lindsey began, scooting forward a little to sit on the front of her seat, “I’m Lindsey, and this is Luca. We, well, she won a contest online during the San Diego Comic Con.”

            Taylor glanced up over her phone, a bored stare glossed over her eyes, “Yes. I know.”

            “Long flight, dear?” Tom asked, putting an arm over her shoulders, trying to lighten the mood and release the chit chat from Lindsey.

            “Oh, you would not _believe_ what I’ve been going through. The airplane wouldn’t let us order a meal because the flight was less than 3 hours. It was ridiculous. And then I saw an attendant try and sneak a picture of me. _Ugh._ ”

            “Don’t you have a private jet?” I muttered, mostly to myself in a midst of confusion.

            There was a beat of silence, and then she answered, disdain dripping from her voice, “Yeah, I do. But I like to take the normal route once in a while. Save myself some money and relate to my followers.” She cracked a smile, that seemed rather fake, “And don’t worry about the paparazzi, I doubt any pictures of you two are going to show up, it’s not like you’re that important to the tabloids.”

            “What?” Lindsey’s eyebrows raised, and cocked her head to the side.

            From behind her phone, she spoke, “Oh, well, you know. You two aren’t famous, like, at all. So you’re not really important,” She then turned to Tom, “They aren’t staying long, right? Like, a week?”

            “Um, yeah...they’re leaving after the costume party.”

            “Cool,” She smiled, still looking at Tom, “Then I get you all to myself,” she leaned in and kissed him, and kept kissing him.

            I blinked a couple times, then leaned back in my seat, trying to resist the urge to make gagging noises, while resting a hand on Lindsey’s leg before she blew up at her. Taylor was right, we are nobody to them. Just an inconvenience to her and her life style.


	2. Hotel Awkwardness

The rest of the ride to the hotel was rather bland. What Taylor said had kind of stung, but I was trying to think nothing of it, hoping it wouldn’t sour the mood.

            Once we had successfully checked in, and found our suite, Lindsey and I began to unpack, listening to music and chatting as we went.

            “You know, I’m kind of surprised at what she said in the limo.” Lindsey commented offhandedly, putting a shirt on a hanger.

            I stopped, and looked at her with a blank expression, “Really…”

            “Well, I mean, just saying we’re not important. Just off the bat like that.”

            “Why? It’s not like she’s wrong.” I finished with my suitcase, and shoved its carcass under the bed. “We’re not famous, especially not in Australia.”

            “She just didn’t need to be such a…. well, you know… about it.” She huffed sat on the bed opposite mine. “Just because she _is_ famous…”

            “Alright.” I slapped my hands down onto the bed, “We are done with this. Grab your damn swimsuit, we’re going swimming.” A smile spread across her face, her green eyes lighting up with excitement.

            “Oh, you’re so good at making plans to feel better.” She clapped excitedly, then fetched it out of a drawer.

            “I’ll use the bathroom.”

            I was hoping that this little excursion would be enough to get Lindsey’s mind off of the new found celebrity drama. I huffed, looking at my pale complexion in the mirror, half admiring my blond hair and blue eyes, while ignoring the bit of pudge.

            Fuck it.

            As I exited the bathroom, me in a two piece tankini and Lindsey in her one-piece strappy thing, there was a knock on the door.

            I glanced at it, then to Lindsey, “Did you order something?”

            Lindsey shook her head, brown bouncy girls swooshing back and forth, “Maybe it’s maid service?”

            “Oh, yeah, duh.” I slipped on flip flops and opened the door, “We don’t need anything cleaned.”

            Whoops.

            Tom gave a lighthearted chuckle, “Good thing I’m not a maid then, hm?”

            My cheeks turned warm, “Oh, I’m sorry… that’s embarrassing.” I laughed, then turned away from the door, eyes wide, trying to find something that I could pull over my two piece.

            “Hey, Tom!” Lindsey said enthusiastically, “We’re going swimming! Want to come with?”

            “Umm…” He trailed off as I pulled a baggy swimsuit cover up over myself, “I don’t know. I wanted to talk to you guys about what happened in the car.”

            “Oh, that’s fine. Everything’s fine, we’ve heard bitchier things.”

I laughed, “For real, though.” I said smirking.

Lindsey giggled, then continued, “I’m just surprised. I thought she was supposed to be really down to earth and all that fake schmoozer stuff.”

            Tom carefully walked in the room, rubbing his hands together, “Normally she is a bit nicer, I think her flight was just a bit long. She really is a nice person.” He cleared his throat, “I am sorry though, I’ve talked to her about being a little more respectful.”

            I pursed my lips, thinking that she perhaps should be the one coming to apologize, not sending her boyfriend to do it.

            Lindsey spoke up again, filling the silence, “That’s nice, I guess.”

            “Why didn’t she come and say she’s sorry? I mean, why send you?” I asked, once again a little irritated by her actions.

            “I, um, well… she said she was tired from her flight, and wanted to lay down.”

            “She was tired from a flight that was from Melbourne to Brisbane?” Lindsey piped up from behind me.

            He gave a small awkward smile, and shrugged his shoulders in response.

            I rolled my eyes, “Well, thank you for teaching your child manners.” I crossed my arms across my chest, watching his brow furrow and his lovely blue eyes look briefly at the carpet.

            “Lucera! That was rude!” Lindsey whisper-yelled at me.

            “No, no, it’s fine.” Tom exhaled in a huff, “She’s not wrong. Being tired isn’t an excuse to act like that to someone else. Have a nice day ladies, I’m sure I’ll see you tomorrow.” He walked out the door and quietly shut it, leaving the room in a chilled silence.

            “Luca.” I turned to Lindsey, who had a hand on her hip, “Apologize.”

            I rolled my eyes, “But. Lindsey…”

            “Go. Now. I know you’re a stubborn person but you just made your _idol_ feel like shit.”

            I groaned and grabbed for the door, leaning out the hallway to see Tom still walking away. “Tom!”

            He stopped, and turned to look, hands still buried in his pockets, his eyes a little bit sad.

            I exhaled a breath, then walked down the hall to join him, “I’m sorry, now I’m being the jerk.”

            “It’s okay, Luca. I know you don’t mean to be, or at least, you don’t come off that way.” He chuckled, a smile spreading across his lips, his eyes starting to get a bit of that sparkle back that I’ve seen in interviews.

            “I really don’t, I swear. You’re one of my hero’s, that would be a totally dick move of me.” _Oops._ “Shit. Sorry about the language! Wait – gah!” I rubbed my temple, a smile spreading across my face too.

            “It’s quite alright.”

            “So, um, swimming?”

            He briefly looked down at my half-see through cover up, then back up to meet my gaze, “I really should get back to my room and rehearse my lines for tomorrow.”

            “I thought you said Taylor was trying to take a nap?”

            “Oh, well, yeah…” He trailed off again, looking back over his shoulder to which I imagine was his own suite.

            “Unless you guys, _don’t_ room together?”

            “We do…”

            “Well there you go, and then after I can help you run lines,” I flipped my hair in a old-fashioned valley girl style, “I don’t mean to brag or anything, but I _did_ do theater in high school.”

            He chuckled and then smiled, “Oh, really now?”

            “Yep! So much practice when you get to play back ground characters for three years in a row.”

            “Why all back ground characters?”

            “Because I can’t sing, and my high school only did a yearly musical. However, there is a time where I had to memorize lines of ‘ _To Be or Not To Be_ ’ for my English class.”

            He chuckled, “Why would you have to memorize that for an English class?”

            “My teacher was a dick,” I smiled, “and he gave a point of extra credit per stanza we could recite. Kind of freaked the class out though when I could recite the entire thing in less than a week. And perhaps that I said it so passionately.” I giggled, running my hands through my hair again, trying to hide the blushing and the hyperventilating.

            “Passion is the key to theater.”

            “I would think passion is the key to anything in life,” we smiled at each other, my stomach in butterflies as our eyes locked.

            “Speaking of passion…” He trailed off,

            My throat locked, thinking of the worst, “Yes?”

            “What made you decide to do a Loki cosplay?”

            I blinked a couple times, spinning back to real life, the rose colored glasses falling as I realized that my butterflies were a star-struck crush and I’m here for a week. “What?”

            “The costume you made, of a female Loki. What made you want to re-create that character?”

            “Well… um…”

            A door opened behind me, Lindsey shouting up the hall, “Are we going swimming and trying to score some babes or what?”

            I let out a breath, “Yeah, we’re going.” I turned back to Tom, “Are you joining us?”

            He also let a breath, looked up at the ceiling, then back to me, “You’re going to help me run lines then?”

            “Yes, of course. Anything to spend more time with you.”

            “I’m sorry?”

            My eyes got wide, “Um, remember when I said that I wanted to say one crazy obsessed fan thing? Can that be it?” I bit my lip, hiding half a smile and trying to internally squash the butterflies once again.

            He smirked again, “Does that mean that, that wasn’t the original ‘fan-girly’ thing you had to say to me?”

            “Guess you’ll never know.” I swallowed hard then turned back to Lindsey, “Don’t forget a room key and our ID’s!”


End file.
